The Truth Doesn't Always Set You Free
by PhoenixFlyte
Summary: Nobody knows the real truth. Only Germany knows what happened on that day. The day Hitler died.


Warning! Mentions of the holocaust. Bit of violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

-PAST-

He could finally breathe. The allies left him alone. Italy was safe and Japan was okay. Everything was right. He was gone, dead and out of this world. Everyone thought he killed himself.

Germany knew the truth though. Hitler didn't kill himself. It was him who shot the final blow. Hitler didn't try to commit suicide. He was trying to escape.

The allies didn't know and no one would ever know. He couldn't let anyone else's hands be stained with the blood of a madman. He had to kill him off himself. He knew that Berlin wouldn't make it through the bombing so he had the boy sent to England with a plea to keep him safe. Arthur knew everything. He could only trust that Berlin wasn't in much pain.

He had blocked off the passage underground because he knew that Hitler would go there to escape. It went all according to plan.

When Germany confronted him, Hitler was furious.

"How dare you! An Aryan betraying his country!" This was roared at Ludwig. He stood his ground and gave him a glare.

"I betrayed this country?" His voice was ice, "I am the country. You have destroyed me enough. I was a great country. You have killed off my people, weakening the country you wanted to create." His eyes were glacial as they pierced through Hitler"

"I gave you chances to redeem yourself. In the end, killing millions wasn't enough for you." He snarled this last bit out, "Because of you, my son had to be sent away. Because of you, everything in this country, in me, is going to suffer. You had your fun, I had my orders."

As this was said, he raised his gun and pointed it at them. "You wanted a Jew-free country?" He quietly whispered, "Then why don't we start with you?" Hitler's face had gone an unnatural shade of white. Germany grinned, a dog driving his prey in a corner. "I know your whole bloodline. You're not even German yourself. Austria is so ashamed to have a human like you. Your ancestors were Jewish. You don't even fit your image of an Aryan, yet you keep your power."

His eyes glowed with an unnatural light. "I'm ordered to kill Jews aren't I? Then let us start with the root of the problem."

He clicked the safety off and took aim. He did not hesitate when his finger squeezed the trigger.

Hitler's yell was weak as the girl slumped to the ground. Ludwig ignored his cries and took aim again.

There was no scream as the second shot rang out.

Ludwig arranged the gun as if they killed themselves. On the way out he kicked over a barrel of gasoline over the two bodies. He took a matchbook out and struck one. The gas exploded in front of him. Ludwig watched as the flames licked the sides of the tunnel and the bodies became charred heaps.

He turned and didn't look back.

-PRESENT DAY-

There was an emergency world meeting and Germany was running late. His plane got delayed and Berlin was sick with the sudden flu season.

He cursed under his breath as he stepped off the plane. It would take 30 minutes at least to get to the building and that's if there was no traffic. Germany flipped his phone open and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Kiku? It's Ludwig. My plane was delayed, I'm going to be there in 30 minutes if there's no traffic. Can you tell them?" Germany stepped out of the airport and found the car that was picking him up.

"Of course, Ludwig-San."

"See you," As Germany snapped his phone shut, he couldn't help but feel that Japan was hiding something, more than usual.

He stepped into the building and went to the front desk. Flashing his card, the secretary pointed him to the third floor. England's place was nice, he dully noted as he took the stairs two at a time.

When he arrived at the floor, he couldn't help but notice that it was silent. Strange, he thought as he nearly ran down the hall, I should be hearing Alfred at least. He approached the doors and slowly pushed them open.

The rest of the countries looked up as he entered. Ludwig paused, his hand still holding the door open. They all were sitting down, but their faces were all grave. Even Feliciano was unusually quiet. Finally he couldn't stand it.

"Did something happen?" England stood up and faced Germany.

"What really happened?" "What?" Germany was confused, but a streak of terror ran through him. England looked him in the eyes.

"Hitler." "What about him?" Germany felt his throat closing up on him. No, they couldn't know.

"We have records that were altered to show that Hitler murdered himself, but on further investigation, the placement of the bullet in him was strange. Not where one would typically put one when killing themselves." England's eyes were hard emeralds. "What happened to Hitler that day?"

Germany was frozen. They couldn't have, it wasn't possible. He felt a small tug on his sleeve. He looked and was met with Feliciano's eyes. They were threatening to overflow with tears. That was the last straw.

"You want to know?" He barked out, half laughing, half choking on his words, "Do you really want to know?" His voice was strained as he fought back tears. "The truth, it's been such a long time." He whispered to himself as he looked up to the ceiling.

"I murdered him with my own hands." Germany uttered the words that had been locked up for decades. "He was going to escape, the world needed him gone. I murdered him and burned his body. I made it seem that it was his choice. Hitler was still not defeated. I had to do what was right. I had to get rid of him myself. There wasn't, no, couldn't be anyone else who could do it." He looked up at the countries gathered there. When had his head came down?

"Berlin doesn't even know. That day I was no better than him." He bowed his head, "I didn't even feel anything as his body went up in flames. I murdered his girlfriend first and made him watch her fall. Then I murdered him as he went to hold her."

As this last confession came out, his legs finally gave out and he collapsed to the ground, tears streaming from his eyes, defeated.

He felt arms wrap around his shoulders and hands resting on his back.

"Ludwig," Feliciano, I'm sorry, "It's not your fault," No, it's all my fault, I didn't stop him in time and turned into a murderer myself, he thought.

Ludwig hoped redemption was still possible as the countries gathered around him. Maybe there was still hope for someone like him.


End file.
